Most People Don’t Understand ‘AdChoices’ Icon

Advertisers, agencies and publishers serve the AdChoices icon more than 1 trillion times each month. Yet despite the icon’s presence throughout the Web, fewer than one in 10 Internet users know what the small blue symbol in the shape of a sideways triangle actually means, according to the latest State of Media report by the agency Kelly Scott Madison. That icon — the centerpiece of the industry’s privacy code — is supposed to function as an immediately recognizable symbol indicating online behavioral advertising. That is, it’s supposed to inform people that advertisers are drawing on consumers’ Web-surfing history in order to serve them targeted ads. Clicking on the icon also takes people to pages where they can learn more about behavioral targeting and also opt out of receiving targeted ads. Read more here.